T he Granville location of Tractor Supply Co. cleared its first hurdle Monday night with Schuyler Cos. receiving tentative approval from the Granville Village Planning Board for the expansion of the former Grand Union Plaza.

The approval is pending meeting a number of requirements, including the granting of a variance by the Zoning Board of Appeals, a process that is already under way, officials said.

The planning board set a public hearing for Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. to allow for public comment on a subdivision request and site plan review needed to move forward with the process of adding nearly 10,000 square feet of indoor space and 15,000-plus outside to the current Granville Plaza.

John S. Stevens from infinigy engineering and surveying attended the meeting to present the plan to the board along with Eric M. Larner, president of Schuyler Cos. Stevens gave an overview of the plan, including answering questions from the board.

The usual store plan for the company has been modified to fit the site, Stevens said, but some additional work will have to take place to make it fit into the area.

Stevens said the footprint of the site would expand to the south into property purchased from neighboring residents to accommodate the store’s fenced-in area.

“As I’m sure you’re aware this is typical for a Tractor Supply store,” he said. The additional segment of land is owned by Herb and Tammy DuFour.

The addition of the acreage to the “parent parcel” containing the plaza will allow Tractor Supply to install the fenced outdoor area.

“I’m assuming that you’re happy with all of this?” Bishop asked the DuFours.

“All of our (qualms) have been addressed,” Herb DuFour said.

The plan includes a fence and the addition of trees to buffer the residence from the store site.

Schuyler Cos.’Larner said the process of bringing TSC to Granville had already taken about two years and he was looking forward to completing the process.

Larner said he wanted to be sure those who were affected by the project were satisfied. “If the neighbors aren’t happy, then no one’s happy,” Larner said.

The fence from the new structure will come within 7 feet of the northern corner of the DuFours’ residence, requiring a variance, planning board Chairwoman Christina Bishop said.

The variance request was referred to the ZBA and Stevens said he had all of the paperwork the DuFours would need to complete the process.

The variance application will also have a public hearing, likely in January.

The DuFours attended Monday night’s meeting and said they were a bit relieved to have their little secret get out. “They asked us to keep it quiet; it feels good (to have the secret out),” Tammy DuFour said after the meeting.

DuFour said they received a call from Larner one day from out of the blue and had been sitting on this little secret for some time now. “You always hear about these things happening, but you never think it’s going to happen to you,” she said.

Village Mayor Jay Niles attended the meeting and told Larner he was pleased to see the redevelopment taking place. “We want you to know we appreciate the risk you took (buying the plaza),” Niles said.

After conditionally approving the plan, the planning board adjourned the meeting. Asked for comment, Bishop said she didn’t have much to say. “We’re just looking forward to bringing another business to the town,” she said.